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Assistant city mayor for neighbourhood services councillor Kirk Master said: ““Currently we don’t supply any form of body worn cameras to our staff but I have asked officers to purchase some for our front line officers.

“That includes civil enforcement officers, some parks officers and city wardens who deal with the public face-to-face on a day-to-day basis.

“It is partly for their protection.

“We know our staff sometimes find themselves in hostile environments - when they have given someone a parking ticket and are getting abuse or when they challenge someone they find fly-tipping.

“What we will have is evidence of those encounters and we want the public to be aware that if they abuse our staff we can use that evidence to take appropriate action.”

Coun Master added: “It works both ways as well. If members of the public have a complaint or a grievance against a staff member the footage can be used to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Coun Master, who is also Leicestershire’s deputy police and crime commissioner, said: “We are catching up with a lot of other councils who already employ this technology.

“All police officers and PCSOs wear body-worn cameras and have done so for years.

“It has proved invaluable for them and I think it will be for the council.”

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Tory city councillor Ross Grant asked Coun Master about the use of cameras in a recent council meeting.

He said: “That’s very encouraging. Could we also look at providing this protection to our road crossing patrols - more affectionately know as lollipop men and women who can be subject to outrageous aggression and physical risks while carrying out an important job protecting or children.

“If it couldn’t be provided through council budgets maybe offering a way for schools’ or community funding to do that?”

Coun Master said: “That’s a fair challenge.

“What we are going to procure is a set of approximately 50 cameras we can use.